Blame shifted for criminal trio's 'accidental' release from prison

Two murderers and a rapist walked out of a magistrates' court in Cape Town instead of being returned to Pollsmoor, where they were serving their sentences. No one wants to take responsibility. By Caryn Dolley

- Caryn Dolley

Nicholas Gotsell, the DA's representative on security and justice in the National Council of Provinces, says the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) must come clean.

The DCS says it is not in the wrong. Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald also says the DCS is not to blame and that questions should be posed to the Western Cape Department of Social Development.

The MEC for social development in the province, Jaco Londt, says Groenewald is “trying to take the heat off his department by making unfounded accusations”.

And the Justice Ministry says the DCS is best placed to handle the saga. The South African Police Service (SAPS), meanwhile, is investigating.

At the centre of all these fingers being pointed is the early release of three convicts — murderers Mikyle Mentoor and Xolani du Preez and rapist Me-Kayle Timmie — because of an apparent paperwork bungle. They had been convicted of separate crimes and sentenced.

Because of their youthful ages, they were initially detained in Cape Town's Horizon Child and Youth Care Centre.

They faced assault charges while there, and a Cape Town High Court order, dated 31 July 2024, saw to it that they were transferred to Pollsmoor Prison to serve their sentences. After appearing in the Cape Town magistrates' court, presumably for the assault matter, they were released instead of being returned to Pollsmoor.

DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo previously told Daily Maverick that the 2024 high court order clarifying their sentencing status was sent only to the Horizon centre. Without this paperwork, the DCS apparently did not know that Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie were convicts serving their sentences in prison.

Nxumalo said the “DCS acted within the legal framework at every stage of these individuals' detention”.